Papers by Author: Xian Ping Liu

Abstract: Scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) and infrared thermography are widely used for surface thermal characterization. However, the SThM technique is limited by measurement of the non-electrical conductive surfaces and the infrared thermography has insufficient spatial resolution for submicron localized thermal measurement. The “hot tip” Tribological Probe Microscope (TPM) has been designed to achieve better localized thermal analysis function in this paper. The schemes of system design are presented and the principle of the ‘hot-tip’ technique is explained by relating the signals to established thermal properties. After calibrating the lumped thermal resistances (LTR) of the probe and the ambient environment, the LTRs of 5 metal surfaces were measured and compared. In addition, the paper numerically studied the LTR of the indentation interfaces with defined thermal conductivity (TC) by Finite Element Method (FEM). Numerical linearity was observed and fitted between LTR and TC. Based on the measured LTR and the linearity, the deduced TCs of the 5 metal surfaces are agreed well with the reference values.

Abstract: A novel measurement system, the multi-functional Tribological Probe Microscope (TPM), has been developed to provide multi-function measurements of surface and surface properties. These properties are topography, friction, Young’s modulus, and nano-hardness. They are measured, point-by-point, in a single scan set up. The four function maps of surface topography, friction, hardness and Young’s modulus are correlated in space and time. In this paper we will brief the TPM system and demonstrate the capability of the multi-function evaluation of engineering surfaces and their correlated nature between these functions. It is believed that such direct correlated measurements will help scientist and engineers to understand surface and surface related properties and eventually to design and optimise a surface for a better performance.